Tiger Woods looked tired on Monday as he politely blew off interview requests following his closing 71 at TPC Boston.
Phil Mickelson couldn’t wait to talk about his closing 63 that was a nine-birdie, one bogey performance.
Woods finished seven-under, had back nine troubles and after two straight weeks on the course, is facing a third with just two days rest, make that one, but he did beg his way out of the Wednesday pro-am for the BMW.
“It’s fun to play like that,” said Mickelson, who has out-played Woods in the first two FedEx Cup playoff events. “Obviously that (63) will make it a lot easier for him (Jim Furyk),” Mickelson said, knowing that the first three captain’s picks for the upcoming Ryder Cup are on tap Wednesday afternoon.
Mickelson’s closing 63 got him a tie for 12th at 10-under in Boston while Woods’ 71 left him tied for 24th at seven-under.
At the Northern Trust, Mickelson’s rounds of 68-68-68-71 earned him a tie for 15th at nine-under while Woods (71-71-68-70) fell down the list and tied for 40th at four-under.
So far there’s been no comparison. Mickelson has moved to ninth on the FedEx points list and will be at East Lake while Woods has work to do. He stayed at No. 25.
Both Mickelson and Woods got a boost late Tuesday when Jim Furyk, to no one’s surprise, announced them both as captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup team along with Bryson DeChambeau.
There were some big moves on Monday, biggest was Hideki Matsuyama. He moved from 58 to 28 thanks to a closing 65 that earned him a tie for fourth.
Emiliano Grillo went from 48 to 29 thanks to a T7.
C.T. Pan made a big move — he started at 72, he’s now 33rd thanks to a T4.
Abraham Ancer’s closing 73 was a disappointment to him. He fell from the top spot to a T7 but still moved from 92 to 56th and earned a spot in the BMW.
Brice Garnett was 81 and moved to 63 thanks to a T12.
Peter Uihlein went from 83 to 64 and Keith Mitchell punched his ticket to Philly, going from 78 to 66th.
Biggest names who won’t advance? Matt Kuchar fell out of the top 70, went to 76. Ryan Moore was unlucky 71. Jimmy Walker’s done, he’s No. 75 and Charley Hoffman was 70th.
